Miamou ( el, Μιαμού) is a mountain village and a community in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

(elevation 353 metres) 60 km south of

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

, on the south of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. It belongs to the municipality of

Gortyn Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna ( el, Γόρτυν, , or , ) is a municipality, and an archaeological site, on the Mediterranean island of Crete away from the island's capital, Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka. Gortyn ...

. The village had a population of 96 (2011), the community, which includes the villages

Lentas Lentas (Greek Λέντας), Lentas is a coastal village 75 km south of Heraklion, on the south coast of Crete in Greece. It belongs to the community of Miamou within the municipality of Gortyna. Origins of the name The name of Lentas possi ...

, Dyskos, Krotos and Papadogiannis, had 306 inhabitants. The Libyan Sea is 4 km to the south.

History

Miamou was first inhabited during the end of the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

period. The name Miamou comes from the Greek word ''mia'' which means "one" (Greek: μία) and the Greek word ''omou'' which means "team" (Greek: Ομού). The name of Miamou possibly derives from folklore tradition. It is said that during the Middle Ages there was an epidemic which forced several villagers to abandon their settlements and go to the village which was not affected by it. That village is now called Miamou. In 1583, it had 204 inhabitants (Kastrofylakas, vol. 12, pg. 103) and was known as Miamú.

References

*''Heraklio And Its Prefecture'' (''Το Ηράκλειον και ο Νομός του'' ''To Iraklion kai o Nomos tou''), published by the Heraklio prefecture Populated places in Heraklion (regional unit) {{Crete-geo-stub